A straight forward days riding day today. I’m heading down
towards Grenoble and then a further 20 or so Ks. I’m thinking of heading to St
Etienne so I need to get further west so that I can go under and around Lyon.
I got up early, did the usual, ate the second half of
yesterday’s baguette which was a bit stale now but oh well. Then I had a quick
look at the market that was being set up and bought a slice of Flan to get me
going J
I left around 8:40 am and it was another ripper of a ride.
Not so steep today but it just went on and on and on. There were also hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cyclists coming up the mountain. I
imagine they are doing the loop from Grenoble up either the Col du Glandon or
Croix de Fer. Lots of hearty waves from the cyclists for the Touring Cyclist J There were heaps of
cars coming up with bikes as well, not much traffic heading down the mountain
at all (I guess it is Saturday). Around the town of Vizille there was actually
a traffic jam so many cars were coming up!
Naturally with so much downhill I made great time and in no
time at all I was on the canal route the skirts past Grenoble. I’d already
decided I wasn’t going to venture into town unless it was close to lunch time,
but it was only 10:30am J
I followed the lovely canal all the way to the town of
Voreppe where I detoured in for a look and a quick snack of a quiche. The
Boulangerier said it was a tomato quiche, what he forgot to mention was that it
also had goats cheese in it; a bit strong but I managed it all.
From there a quick trip back down to the valley and onto
another bike route direct to the hotel. I hadn’t realised it is a Campanile
(same as used by the US in ’95 PBP), I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in one. It
is simple and functional and next to a mildly busy highway, however it is cool and
has TV and WiFi.
Speaking of TV I’m in so early the coverage hasn’t even
begun! I watched the women’s pursuit race which was held beforehand, an
interesting format, then I did some photo sorting and uploaded photo’s to the
blog while I watched the Tour. It’s the penultimate day time trial and it was
very exciting. Romain Bardet dropped from 2nd to 3rd and
is only in 3rd by 1 second. It will be interesting to see what
happens tomorrow!
I watched the Tour Review for a while then finished
yesterday’ Midsomer and read until dinner at 7. I
ended up going down at 7:30 and decided on a Kir (of course) and the Duo (Main
plus cheese/dessert bar). The Kir was pleasant and for the main I had the steak
with fries. I can’t recall the last time I had fries; I’m not even sure I’ve
had any this trip? I saved the baguette (which was very nice) for the cheese; a
nice brie and a slightly stinky other cheese. Then for dessert I had an Ile Flottante
which was ok, a couple of small tarts, and then realised there was riz au lait,
so I had a huge bowl of that J
Then back to the room where I watched an NCIS and another Midsomer, bed around 11.
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